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Police: Man kills wife, shoots self

Andy McNeil, @Andy_McNeil
8:11 a.m. EDT August 28, 2014

Gloucester Township police and a Camden County Prosecutor’s Office detective at the Wychowanecs’ home on Price Avenue in Glendora, where their son Ryan, 35, was found also shot dead Wednesday.
(Photo:
Denise Henhoeffer/Courier-Post
)

Nurses jumped into action Wednesday to try to avert a tragedy after a Glendora man allegedly shot his wife in a Stratford hospital, then turned the gun on himself as medical personnel rushed into the room, authorities said.

But the effort wasn’t enough. The woman died, her son was later found slain in their home and her husband clings to life after an apparent suicide attempt.

Authorities say Raymond Wychowanec, 63, shot his 62-year-old wife, Denise, twice in the chest in her second-floor room at Kennedy University Hospital around 10:10 a.m. — about 45 minutes after he signed in to visit her.

SEE MORE ON MURDER-SUICIDE INVOLVING MORRIS COUNTY CLERK | http://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/local/2014/08/17/mourning-loss-joan-bramhall/14117101/

Medical staff heard the gunshots and rushed into the room to witness Wychowanec shoot himself in the head, according to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

Denise Wychowanec was pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband was flown to the trauma center at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where he was reported to be in critical condition Wednesday afternoon.

After the shooting, police checked the couple’s home on the 800 block of Price Avenue and found their 35-year-old son, Ryan, had been fatally shot.

The prosecutor’s office said detectives are analyzing ballistics and other evidence to confirm whether the two shootings are related.

While a motive for the shootings has not been determined, a March 2011 Facebook post by Ryan Wychowanec indicated the family was struggling financially.

The post — titled “I can’t deal with this!” — stated Raymond Wychowanec had been out of a job for five months. It notes his mother had been in a nursing home/rehabilitation center after her ninth back surgery, was learning how to walk again and couldn’t be home alone.

“Who’s going to pay for an aide?” the post asked. “Damn if my father has the money, let alone me. I can barely pay my own bills. I can’t deal with this.”

Neighbors said Denise Wychowanec used a wheelchair and rarely left the house. She was known for feeding the neighborhood cats.

Laura McCafferty, whose family has lived on the block for 18 years, recalled Raymond Wychowanec as a nice man who did everything for his family.

“He cared for his wife very much,” she said. “He took care of her all the time, so it’s surprising to hear.”

Neighbors said Ryan Wychowanec had been living with his parents, noting the family had sold a home and parcel of land across the street in recent years.

“I think they needed money for medical bills,” said Amy, a neighbor who declined to give her last name.

Nearby residents said Raymond Wychowanec had worked at the Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City prior to its closure in 2006. He worked more recently at a local Walmart.

Ryan Wychowanec was a resource technologist for the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, according to social media. He attended Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken and studied laboratory sciences and biotechnology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, according to his Facebook profile.

Susan Phillips, a spokeswoman for Penn Medicine, expressed shock, noting Ryan Wychowanec was “a dedicated and valued employee for more than a decade.”

“We offer our deepest condolences to those in the midst of this terrible tragedy,” she said.

Kennedy Hospital officials declined to discuss what Denise Wychowanec was being treated for at the time of the fatal encounter.

Outside the hospital, Meghan Lucas of Lindenwold said she was bringing her mother for an appointment Wednesday morning when she got a news alert about the shooting.

“It’s really scary to think that you can’t even walk outside your house anymore without thinking who’s shooting who,” she said.

Lucas described the scene inside the hospital as a “cool, calm, collected environment.”

“Everybody was just doing their job.”

Andy McNeil writes for the Courier-Post. He can be reached at 856-486-2458 or amcneil@courierpost